International Center for Ecology, Meteorology, and Environment, School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.
International Center for Ecology, Meteorology, and Environment, School of Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.
Chemosphere. 2021 Sep;279:130919. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130919. Epub 2021 May 17.
PM pollution is a widespread environmental and health problem, particularly in China. Besides leading to well-known diseases in the respiratory system, PM can also alter immune function to induce or aggravate allergic diseases. To determine whether there are temporal and spatial differences in the allergic responses to PM, monthly samples were collected from four regions (urban, industrial, suburban, and rural areas) through a whole year in Nanjing city, China. Inorganic chemical components (metals and water-soluble ions) of PM were analyzed, and the rat basophil cells (RBL-2H3) exposed to PM were assessed through quantitative measures of degranulation (β-hex and histamine) and pro-inflammation cytokine (IL-4 and TNF-α) expression. The highest levels of β-hex were measured in winter and spring PM from urban and industrial areas, or autumn PM from suburban and rural areas. With respect to histamine, autumn PM samples were most potent irrespective of the location. Autumn and winter PM induced higher levels of IL-4 than spring and summer samples. However, spring and autumn PM caused higher levels of TNF-α. The concentrations of water-soluble ions (NH, K and Cl), as well as heavy metals (Pb and Cr), were directly and statistically correlated to the inflammation observed in vitro. In general, the differences between regional and seasonal PM in stimulating cell degranulation may depend on endotoxin and airborne allergen content of PM. The heavy metals and water-soluble ions in PM were mostly anthropogenic, which increased the particles' mass-based cellular inflammatory potential, therefore, their health risks, e.g. from vehicular exhaust, coal, and biomass combustion, cannot be ignored.
PM 污染是一个广泛存在的环境和健康问题，特别是在中国。除了导致众所周知的呼吸系统疾病外，PM 还可以改变免疫功能，诱发或加重过敏性疾病。为了确定 PM 的过敏反应是否存在时间和空间差异，在中国南京市全年的四个区域（城市、工业、郊区和农村）每月采集样本。分析了 PM 的无机化学成分（金属和水溶性离子），并通过定量测量脱颗粒（β-己糖和组氨酸）和促炎细胞因子（IL-4 和 TNF-α）表达，评估暴露于 PM 的大鼠嗜碱性粒细胞（RBL-2H3）。β-己糖的最高水平出现在城市和工业区的冬季和春季 PM 中，或郊区和农村地区的秋季 PM 中。至于组氨酸，无论位置如何，秋季 PM 样本的效果最强。秋季和冬季 PM 诱导的 IL-4 水平高于春季和夏季样本。然而，春季和秋季 PM 导致 TNF-α 水平更高。水溶性离子（NH、K 和 Cl）以及重金属（Pb 和 Cr）的浓度与体外观察到的炎症直接相关。总的来说，区域和季节性 PM 刺激细胞脱颗粒的差异可能取决于 PM 中内毒素和空气传播过敏原的含量。PM 中的重金属和水溶性离子主要是人为的，这增加了颗粒的基于质量的细胞炎症潜力，因此，它们的健康风险，例如来自机动车尾气、煤炭和生物质燃烧，不容忽视。
